Kansas committee hears bill to end state property tax levies and replace them with general‑fund transfers

The Committee on Taxation held a hearing on Senate Bill 35, a measure that would discontinue statewide property tax levies now used to support the Kansas Educational Building Fund and the State Institutions Building Fund and replace them with annual transfers from the state general fund beginning July 1, 2026.

The bill would eliminate two levies that currently total 1.5 mills on taxable tangible property after tax year 2025 and provide specific backfill transfers from the general fund: a one‑time transfer of $56,000,000 to the Kansas Educational Building Fund on July 1, 2026 and an annual transfer on July 1, 2027 and each year thereafter that equals the prior year’s transfer increased by the 10‑year average percentage change in statewide taxable valuation. For the State Institutions Building Fund, the bill would replace the…